Music

Review: “Ainneoin na Stoirme” by Téada

teada stormI believe the word I am looking for is “Wow.“

I refer to “Ainneoin na Stoirme (In Spite of the Storm),” the vibrant new CD from the Irish traditional supergroup Téada. It’s a jewel. Emerald, of course.

The band possesses a particular talent for resurrecting the great old stuff and making it seem like new stuff. A lot of bands play the old tunes with a good deal of flair, and a reverence for tradition. I probably like them all, in one way or another, for one reason or another.

Still, there’s something different and rare about Téada. The band’s world-class young musicians, led by founder Oisín Mac Diarmada on fiddle, know how to fill every corner of a room with rich, gorgeous sound. If you’ve heard them in concert, you know what I’m talking about. All the same, there’s a music box lightness and airiness to their execution of that sound that I’ve always admired.

So in that sense, “In Spite of the Storm” is more of the same. And that’s a very good thing indeed.

Now, add to the mix 2013 TG4 Traditional Singer of the Year and living legend Séamus Begley. He joined the band in March of 2012. His voice is like a branch of strong, solid mahogany, sanded down to a silky smoothness. It’s not as if Téada was ever lacking. Téada never needed anything to make it better than the already accomplished band that it is. And yet, Begley’s singing takes an already accomplished band and somehow completes it.

Begley’s singing produces many of the albums finest moments. I particularly liked the waltz “Ar A MBóithrín Buí/Tell Me Now.” Sung in Irish, it sounded like the gentlest of lullabies.

One cute little tune you won’t want to miss is Marty Robbins’ old chestnut, “Saddle Tramp.” Begley seems to delight in telling you a story, and this is a good one. You have to love the lyrics:

They call me a drifter, they say I’m no good
I’ll never amount to a thing
Well, I may be a drifter and I may be no good
There’s joy in this song that I sing

Couldn’t have said it better. Mac Diarmada might surprise you with his take on old-timey fiddling. It really makes the tune.

Of course, Mac Diarmada and his bandmates have always possessed the power to amaze. They hit the ground running with a blistering set of reels (“Dinny O’Brien’s/The Sweetheart Reel/Paddy Kenny’s”). You’ll be hanging on by your fingernails, but the boys hold the whole thing together with ease.

You’ll also a nice pairing of jigs and a slip jig, “The Jig of the Dead/I Have a House of My Own With a Chimney Built On the Top of It/Paddy Breen’s/The Bird’s Call.” Seán Mc Elwain opens the set with some terrific bouzouki licks, and he’s a key element of everything that follows, providing skilled counterpoint throughout.

Flutist Damien Stenson takes the lead on the final set, reels once again: “James Murray’s; Porthole of the Kelp/The Watchmaker/The Spinning Wheel. Very pretty.

I also have to say, I sometimes think its easy not to notice the contribution of the bodhran player. And I’m not just saying that because of my feeble attempts to play the thing. I think that’s because, if the drummer knows is business, he’s supporting the band in a very delicate, unobtrusive, but really indispensible way. It’s really not an easy act to pull off. Fair play, as the saying goes, to Tristan Rosenstock, who provides solid rhythmic  backing from the beginning to the end of this 11-track offering.

All told, a terrific and indispensable piece of work.

February 14, 2014 by
News, People

Being Cool to His Schools

Michael Bradley

Michael Bradley

As if he didn’t already have enough to do, Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day parade director Michael Bradley, Jr., is taking on a daunting new assignment. He is the chairman of a relatively new board that will oversee all 23 Catholic schools in Delaware County.

Bradley holds leadership positions in a number of organizations, including Penn State’s Board of Advisers. He also happens to be president of a family-owned flooring and wall protection company.

Busy or not, Bradley doesn’t mind a bit. In fact, he has been lobbying for a role in county schools ever since a Blue Ribbon Commission issued a report in January 2012 calling for some predictably unpopular choices. Faced with a 38 percent drop in enrollment and a staggering $6 million deficit, the commission ordered the closure of 45 of the Archdiocese’s 156 elementary schools and four of 17 high schools.

Twenty-four elementary schools appealed, and 18 earned a reprieve. All four high schools also were spared the chopping block thanks to millions of dollars in pledges and donations.

Nevertheless, parents and communities reacted with alarm, and no small degree of anger, to the commission’s findings.

“They were closing all of these schools,” he says. “The main thing I told them is, you can’t have one group in charge. I was badgering them about it enough so that they looked at it. I was not the only one, but I was at the forefront of the screaming. They agreed with me. They came up with a plan to name advisory boards to run the counties. People just want to be heard. Bringing it all down into more manageable units is better.”

In Bradley’s case, it was never a question of “be careful what you wish for.” A leadership role on the Delaware County advisory board was exactly what he wanted.

“It’s a challenge, and a really neat thing,” he says. “I find it rewarding to build things up from scratch—rather than complain about it, to come up with solutions. I love Catholic education. I live Catholic education. I enjoy the heck out of it because I enjoy the kids.”

Bradley says the immediate plan is to put the schools on more of a business footing, and to unite them in the quest for financial stability and higher enrollment. Stronger involvement on the part of the business community is also a key element.

“Every school has been left on its own. They weren’t sharing information. That’s crazy. It’s important to share, and give them direction on how to raise money. There’s government money out there for them. It’s available.”

Bradley harbors no illusions that every Delaware County school will survive. There are some tough decisions ahead. But for now—and probably long into the future, knowing Bradley—the advisory board is accenting the positive. Rather than talking about which school is going to close, he says, the focus now remains on how to keep them open.

It’s a tough job, but in the end, each school has to solve two problems. “They need money, and they need kids,” Bradley says. “That’s it. You solve those problems, and all the other problems solve themselves.”

February 14, 2014 by
How to Be Irish in Philly

How To Be Irish in Philly This Week

A Screaming Orphan, screaming.

A Screaming Orphan, screaming.


Expect cancellations and delays this week—and possibly through Spring this year—as you attempt to be Irish. Here’s what our calendar says it’s going on, but be sure to call ahead to see if an event is still on:

One event that’s definitely on—the annual Midwinter Scottish and Irish Festival at The Valley Forge Convention Center. An incredible lineup of acts—and, for those of us who are winter weary, whiskey tasting classes—will make you forget that you just shoveled two tons of snow in five days and boy are your arms tired. Here’s the lineup—print it out and plan accordingly.

Friday night:
8:00 – 8:30 Angus and Didgeridrew
8:45 – 9:45 The John Byrne Band
10:00 – 11:00 Jamison
11:15 – 11:59 Albannach

Saturday
STAGE ONE

10:00 – 10:30 The MacLeod Fiddlers
10:35 – 11:00 Cummins Irish Dancers
11:15 – 12:00 The Bogside Rogues
12:15 – 1:00 Albannach
1:15 – 2:15 Brother
2:30 – 3:30 McLean Avenue Band
3:45 – 4:45 Mick McAuley and Winifred Horan

5:00 – 6:15 Screaming Orphans
6:30 – 7:30 Rathkeltair
7:45 – 8:45 Brother
9:00 – 9:45 Albannach
10:00 – 11:00 Hadrian’s Wall
11:15 – 11:59 Neil Anderson leads the Band Jam

STAGE TWO 

11:15 – 11:30 Campbell Highland Dancers
11:45 – 12:30 Colleen SearsonL
12:45 – 1:30 The Brigadoons
1:45 – 2:30 Rathkeltair
2:45 – 3:30 Hadrian’s Wall
3:45 – 4:15 The MacLeod Fiddlers
4:30 – 5:30 The Bogside Rogues
5:45 – 6:30 The John Byrne Band
6:45 – 7:30 The Brigadoons
7:45 – 8:30 McLean Avenue Band

Seminars and Whiskey Tasting

12:00 – 12:45 Irish Language Workshop
with Casey O’Connor
1:00 – 1:45 Scots Gaelic Workshop with John Grimaldi
2:00 – 2:45 What the Heck is a Bagpipe?
with Kent Wires
3:00 – 4:00 Whiskey Tasting (21 & up)
with Frank McDonald
UPSTAIRS
Casino Food Court

12:00 – 1:00 Olive McElhone and Frank Reed
1:15 – 2:00 Colleen Searson
2:15 – 3:30 Oliver McElhone and Frank Reed

THE WATERFORD BALLROOM
12:00 – 1:15 Scottish Step Dance Class
with Lynnette Brash
1:30 – 2:30 Ceili Dancing
with Rosemarie Timoney
2:45 – 4:30 Bagpipe and Highland and Irish Dance Tattoo
Featuring: The Washington Memorial Pipers,
Campbell Highland & Cummins Dancers

Trousers, a play by Paul Meade and David Parell about two Dubliners reminiscing about their summer in New York, continues this week at the Off Broad Street Theatre at First Baptist Church in Philadelphia, an Inis Nua Theatre Company production.

The 2014 CRN-USA North American Open Irish Dance Championships will be jigging and reeling at the Newark Liberty International Marriott Hotel in Newark.

On Monday, Donal Clancy, son of the late Liam Clancy of the Clancy Brothers, will be performing tunes from his new CD, “Songs of a Roving Blade,” at the Coateville Cultural Center.

On Thursday, Irish Ambassador Anne Anderson will present the Ambassador’s Award to the SAP company at the Hyatt at the Bellevue, an annual event sponsored by the Irish American Business Chamber and Network. The Taoiseach Award will go to Denis P. O’Brien, senior executive vice president of Exelon, and the Uachtaran Award will go to Ann Claffey Baiada, RRN, director of Bayada Home Health Care.

Ambassador Anderson will also meet with Neumann University students to discuss the Irish economy and fields that might provide promising career opportunities before the luncheon at Neumann, which is in Aston.

Then, on Friday, the fundraiser you wait all year for (well, I do, at least), the Delco Gaels “Dancing Like a Star” show in which 16 non-dancers dance their way to the trophy. It’s a fabulous show, the money goes to the Delco Gaels Gaelic sports program, and it sells out quickly so this is your last chance. Go to our calendar for the details on this and all of this week’s events.

February 14, 2014 by
How to Be Irish in Philly

How to Be Irish in Philly This Week

Jamison Celtic Rock at Archbishop Ryan on Saturday.

Jamison Celtic Rock at Archbishop Ryan on Saturday.


Brrrr, it’s cold out there. And it’s also cold in here. Irishphiladelphia.com lost power during the recent ice storm so we’re borrowing wifi to update the site. For those of you with power—and without—here are some places where you can warm up this week.

On Saturday, Jamison will be Celtic rocking at Archbishop Ryan, a fun fundraiser for the school’s scholarship fund.

In Collingswood, NJ, Saturday night, the amazing Irish group, Clannad will be performing.

And you can catch the Broken Shillelaghs at Nipper’s Pub in Westville, NJ.

On Wednesday, take your honey to the Birdhouse Center for the Arts in Lambertville, NJ, for an evening of love songs by Annalivia, Justin Nawn, and Bronwyn Bird.

On Thursday, the Irish guitar band Kodaline is performing at World Café Live in Philadelphia.

A heads up for next weekend: The CRN-USA North American Open Irish Dance Championships will take place at Newark Liberty International Airport Marriott Hotel in Newark. Chairwoman of the CRN-USA is Olivia Hilpl, who runs the award-winning Rince Ri Irish Dance School in Bucks County.

And Donal Clancy will be performing at the Coatesville Cultural Center on Feb. 17.

Please check our calendar for other regular events, like the many sessions, and dance lessons in both Philadelphia and Wilmington. But check first before you set out. Some events may be cancelled because of the power problems in the area. We just learned, for example, that the regular AOH Ceili in Bridgeport was cancelled for this week because of power outages.

February 7, 2014 by
Music

Review: “Little Falls” by Lilt

littlefallscoverSome reviews write themselves. This is one of them.

I’ll cut to the chase.

“Little Falls” is a relatively new CD (late November 2013) from Keith Carr on bouzouki, banjo, mandolin and vocals, and the German-born flutist Tina Eck, also on tin whistle. Together performing as “Lilt.” It is one of the finest recordings of Irish music I’ve heard in a long time.

The whole thing, from beginning to end, feels fresh, exhilarating, and wonderfully, blissfully alive. When I was thinking about how I would describe the sound these two produce, I remembered the title of an old Canadian Brass album: “High, Bright, Light and Clear.” That’s it in a nutshell.

There are a few minor flaws, but you would probably need the aural equivalent of an electron microscope to hear them. These two are so together as to be musically inseparable. They sound like one instrument. And both, of course, are seasoned pros. They play at a very high level.

Carr and Eck came together at traditional Irish music sessions around the Washington, D.C., area, so they’re experienced sessioneers.

Sessions are spontaneous. Players forget how certain tunes go, or they remember after they’ve forgotten, and it seems like they often can’t remember the name of the tune they’ve just played because, hey, they know a million of them. How can you keep track?

But every once in a while, the musicians will launch into a set of reels, and the whole thing just seems to be too impossibly great to believe. The music seems to spiral and soar to new heights. You wish you had remembered to turn on your digital recorder or iPhone because that particular moment would never come around again.

“Little Falls” isn’t as spontaneous and wonderfully undisciplined, but still, it seems to capture those memorable moments. The CD obviously boasts better production. It’s all well-rehearsed. That said, when you listen to this CD, you can imagine yourself sitting with a pint of ale at one of those D.C. sessions. Indeed, Eck and Carr are joined on most tracks by their session friends.

So enough with the gushing. What’s all the gushing leading up to? What is “Little Falls?” And why are there so many questions?

Every track is a winner to a greater or lesser degree. But certain tracks are standouts.

I particularly liked “Planxty Dermot Grogan,” featuring Tina Eck, accompanied by by Carr on bouzouki and Kristen Jones on cello. It’s as sweet and airy as spun sugar.

There’s a set featuring the reels “Eddie Kelly’s” and “John Brosnan’s.” The duo plays “Eddie Kelly’s” like an air, and there are times when the tune almost sounds like Tudor court music. They pick it up with “John Brosnan’s,” and there’s a graceful, seamless transition from the first tune to the second. But it’s “Kelly’s” that I really love.

Well-known sean-nos dancer Shannon Dunne steps out on the third track, a set of reels, “The Messenger” and “Roscommon Reel.” It’s a winner.

Carr shows off his banjo chops on the first tune in a another set of reels, “The Galway Reel,” “Seamus Thompson’s” and “View Across the Valley.” Those chops are considerable. Eck joins in with John Dukes on guitar for the second tune, and on the third tune, it’s Dukes again—this time on bodhran—and fiddler Graham DeZarn.

Finally, there’s a bonus track, not listed on the cover, and I wish I could tell you what the tune is. All I know is that you can really hear Carr on banjo at his very best, taking the lead on a reel that sounds more old-timey than Irish. And yet not. It’s syncopated and jazzy, more newgrass than bluegrass. Catchy fiddling and guitar playing throughout. And there’s another instrument somewhere in there that I’m not quite picking up. But really, really fun. It really is a bonus.

Bottom line: Buy “Little Falls.” You’ll play it until it skips.

Also available on Amazon.

Ossian’s got it, too.

January 31, 2014 by
How to Be Irish in Philly, Music, News, People

How to Be Irish in Philly This Week

Timlin and Kane

Timlin and Kane

This Sunday, join Gerry Timlin and Tom Kane and a host of other Irish musicians, including All-Ireland fiddler Haley Richardson and her guitarist brother Dylan, for a special concert at Sacred Heart Church in Camden. This annual “Celtic Spring Concert” raises money for The Heart of Camden, a nonprofit that provides homeownership opportunities to people who live in the waterfront area of Camden. It is a ministry of Sacred Heart Church. The late Sister Peg Hynes, a well-known figure in the Irish community, was its executive director for many years.

This Wednesday marks the beginning of a run of Paul Meade and David Parnell’s play, Trousers, the story of two 30-something Dublin men who reminisce about the summer they spent working as busboys in New York, at the Off Broad Street Theater at First Baptist Church in Philadelphia. It’s a production of the Inis Nua Theatre Company.

Martin McDonagh’s dark and comic play, “The Pillowman,” continues its run through February 8 at the Luna Theater in Philadelphia.

Also on Wednesday, it’s Irish Heritage Night at the 76ers. Appropriately, they’re playing the Boston Celtics—an age-old rivalry. If you use the promotional code IRISH when ordering tickets, you get special ticket prices. It all happens at Wells Fargo Stadium on South Broad Street in the city.

Wednesday also marks the start of a special lecture series—with music—by Tyrone-born musician Gerry Timlin, at McCarthy’s at Donegal Square in Bethlehem. Timlin will talk about modern Irish history and song—starting in the 15th century. Gerry is a fine singer and musician, but most importantly, a very funny man, so don’t expect dry lectures in between song stylings. It’ a six-week series that runs through March 19 ad is limited to only 40 participants.

On Thursday, catch Slainte—Frank Daly and CJ Mills from Jamison Celtic Rock—at Con Murphy’s on the Parkway in Center City.

On Friday, the supergroup from Donegal, Clannad, featuring Moya Brennan, will be in concert at the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg, and on the following evening at the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood, NJ.

Also on Friday night: Galway Guild is at Tir na Nog in Trenton, NJ, and Jamison Celtic Rock is at Curran’s in Tacony. Jamison is also doing a big fundraiser on Sunday at Archbishop Ryan High School in northeast Philadelphia.

Coming up: The Scottish & Irish Midwinter Fest, with an astounding lineup as usual, will be in King of Prussia on Valentine’s Day weekend. Bring your honey and stay for all three days. Donal Clancy, carrying on the musical tradition of his father and uncles, The Clancy Brothers, will be at Coatesville Cultural Center on February 17 and the first of the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade fundraisers is scheduled for February 23. And some interesting Irish acts are coming to the World Café Live. Check out our calendar for more details.

January 31, 2014 by
News, People

2014 St. Patrick’s Day Parade Ring of Honor Chosen

Tom Walsh, second from left, and Sarah Walsh, far right, will march in the parade

Tom Walsh, second from left, and Sarah Walsh, far right, will march in the parade

The Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Observance Association has announced its 2014 Ring of Honor. Traditionally, the president of the organization—this year, Bob Gessler–chooses the Ring of Honor, who march in the parade which will be on Sunday, March 16.

This year’s Ring includes:

Rev. Edward Brady, pastor, St. Anne’s RC Church, chaplain for the Irish Memorial and several other Irish organizations

Father Ed Brady

Father Ed Brady

Susan Campbell, executive director of Ronald McDonald House, founded by Grand Marshal Jim Murray 40 years ago

Ed and Emily Gallagher. The late Ed Gallagher was a longtime member of the executive committee of the St. Patrick’s Day Observance Association

Alana Barry-McCloskey, marketing coordinator for the Irish American Business Chamber and Network board member of Irish Network-Philadelphia

Kevin McCloskey, wounded Afghanistan War vet from Mayfair

Dr. James Murphy, founder of Villanova University’s Irish Studies Program

Mark O’Connor, owner of the Irish Pub and co-founder of the Tour-de-Shore charity

Kathy Orr, meteorologist at CBS3 and co-host of the station’s parade coverage for many years

CBS3 meteorologist Kathy Orr

CBS3 meteorologist Kathy Orr

Becky Puchalski- Member LAOH 61- tireless worker for the homeless, those in need and vets

Joe Shay Stivala, writer for The Philadelphia Record

Tom and Sarah Walsh. He’s manager of the Commodore Barry Club and both are involved in the Irish Center senior luncheons, GAA Games, and a number of other Irish groups.

January 31, 2014 by
Music

Local Band Makes Good–Really Good

RUNA

RUNA

Last week’s snowstorm temporarily put a crimp in their plans to travel to Cape May to record their fourth CD, but when the members of RUNA, the Philadelphia-based Celtic band, finally got there, they had to kick themselves into gear again.

They got some help. On Saturday, they learned that they had won two awards from the Irish Music Association—top group and top traditional group in a pub, festival, concert, beating out the likes of Solas, Lunasa, Altan, and popular local band, Burning Bridget Cleary.

“We were thrilled just to be among the other groups that were nominated,” said lead singer, Shannon Lambert-Ryan. “This was just wildly exciting. We were kick-started for the week.”

It was validation for a band that’s never been easy to slide into a specific niche that it’s a player on the Irish music scene. As one critic put it, “RUNA sounds like no one else,” which is both a blessing and a curse.

“We describe ourselves as Celtic roots music,” explains Lambert-Ryan. “We took a little while to get there in terms of figuring out our brand. We used to describe it as contemporary Celtic music but we were concerned that that connoted Celtic rock or new age sound which we’re not. But we’re not strictly traditional either. We’re somewhere in between niches,” she says laughing.

Blame it on–or credit it to– the widely differing musical styles and background of the band members. “Each of us bring something different and that keeps it balanced,” says Lambert-Ryan, who grew up as a step-dancer in the Philadelphia area, and majored in classical singing and acting. (She’s worked on several M. Night Shyamalan films.)

At the Philly Folk Festival in 2006, she met Dublin-born guitarist Fionan de Barra and, around the same time, percussionist Cheryl Prashker, a Canadian-born classically trained drummer who played the same folk scene as Lambert-Ryan and de Barra, who still lived in Ireland at the time. “I kept in touch with Fionan for a year and a half, then went to Dublin to work on an album with him and the rest is history between the two of us,” says Lambert-Ryan. They were married in 2009 and now live in the Philadelphia area. In addition to his work with RUNA, de Barra also performs with Clannad’s Moya Brennan.

When they decided to perform, they asked Prashker to join them. “After the first time we played together, we all looked at each other said, ‘Well, we need to do a whole lot more of that,’” recalls Lambert-Ryan. And RUNA was born.

And reborn. Eventually, fiddler Tomoko Amura joined them, bringing her bent for the classical and jazz to the mix.

And now, with Amura off pursuing a jazz career, born again. Recently, singer-dancer-multi-instrumentalist Dave Curley from Slide—incidentally, the group to which Fionan’s brother, Eamonn belongs—became part of RUNA, as has Maggie Estes who, despite a freshly minted college degree, is an in-demand bluegrass fiddler from Kentucky and Nashville.

“We met Maggie in Nashville where Fionan and I work frequently with Keith and Krystin Getty, Christian singers from Belfast originally. Fionan tours with and writes for them regularly. She’s one of those sunshiney bubbly people you’d love to work with and she is just spectacular,” says Lambert-Ryan. She blew them away regularly during this past week’s recording. “She’s a lot younger than we are, but she has that kind of chutzpah that just says, ‘Let’s go!’”

So, layered on the strong percussive jazzy sound that both Prashker and Fionan bring to RUNA, Lambert-Ryan’s actor’s penchant for song-stories , and Curley’s eclectic talents (including step-dancing, which Lambert-Ryan says has “kicked my butt into gear” to resume dancing), will be a touch of bluegrass on their next offering, which should be finished in time for the summer festival season.

“Bluegrass is similar in some ways to traditional Irish and Scottish music, but different in other ways. Being able to delve in and out of different genres makes the music exciting for us—it means we don’t have to stay in one ‘pocket’ or genre,” she says.

Touring takes RUNA all over the country, but they have two shows coming up in the Philadelphia area. They’ll be playing at the Mid-Winter Scottish and Irish Festival in King of Prussia on Sunday, February 16, from 3 to 4 PM. And they’ll also be featured at a special St. Patrick’s Season Show at the Irish Center, 6815 Emlen Street, Philadelphia, on Sunday, March 9 at 7 PM.

It’s your chance to find out what makes them the top in Irish music.

January 31, 2014 by